The Boston Bruins are in the middle of a pretty tough off-season right now. After having the best record in the history of the NHL, they lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers who went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
After that, we knew the Bruins would lose some key players. It was bad enough that they traded Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno but they also lost Tyler Bertuzzi to the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency.
Following that, they had two really big retirements. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are both done in the NHL. Each of them had a really big impact on the team in different ways.
With that type of hit to the depth at center, the Bruins will be looking for an upgrade. With their situation (coming off the best record in NHL history and firmly in win-now mode), they need to go for it.
These three players are good considerations for this role with the Bruins:
The Boston Bruins would love to have a number-one center like Mark Scheifele.
Mark Scheifele has been an elite player in his NHL career. His two-way game is good and he produces points at a high level.
In 2022-23, his assist total was down (26) but he scored 42 goals which is up from his career norms. 68 points in 81 games is a great number.
If he was put on the Boston Bruins right now, he’d be the new number once center automatically. He’d get a crack at guys like David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. That is why they should consider him via a trade as there is a good chance he is available.
Sliding Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha down a line would create so much more depth because of how productive Scheifele can be.
With some of these wingers, he’d find himself in an even better position than he was with the Winnipeg Jets and he had some great help there too.